


Autumnal Flight

by gomez36000



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:46:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27863285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gomez36000/pseuds/gomez36000
Summary: As the fall fades into winter and the air turns crisp and frigid, only a lunatic would seek to soar through the sky with his Veela girlfriend. All the same, the cool air and vibrant trees call to him to take flight with his heart.Hope and Healing adjacent. Essentially the Harry and Fleur from that story, but outside that timeline.
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Harry Potter, harry potter/ fleur
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24
Collections: Flowers of Autumn





	Autumnal Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This was an entry for the flowerpot server's Autumn themed collection. You can find the lovely server at discord .gg/Np2zjAH. Additionally, a few wonderful people have turned our obsessive fandom into a force for good, and in a collaborative effort between two discord servers, have embodied the spirit of the season. STS Studios and the Flowerpot Server have joined up for an extra-life fundraiser, where 100% of donations go towards helping children get medical attention. Thanks to everyone's efforts, I will be a part of a podcast alongside such illustrious authors as Taliesin19 of considerable Grow Young With Me fame, Petrificus Somewhatus of Importance of Intent and Paradigm Shift, Salient Causality of International Triwizard Tournament, and Ajjaxx of A Different Kind of War.
> 
> I've had a fair few requests from people asking if they can support me in some way, which warms my heart. I usually direct them towards a charity of their choosing that provides support for abuse victims, but for now, if you are able, I'd ask that you help us in this. You can find us at extra-life. org/ team/ 55622

A casual wind shuffled the leaves strewn around Harry’s feet, brushing against the bottoms of his trousers and further obscuring his surprise.

He grinned, then resisted the urge to start pacing. Would he ever stop feeling like that boy who had trod on her feet during impromptu dance lessons?

He somehow doubted it.

Another breeze blew, one that held the barest touch of winter’s grasp. It snaked through the trees behind him, dropping a menagerie of Autumnal foliage to swirl around him. His cloak clung to his back and legs, straining against the sudden wind. Chill air swept across his neck and beneath his collar, eliciting a shiver.

Maybe he shouldn’t have waited quite so long...she was bound to be cold, and in the air…

While thoughts of reconsideration boiled in his mind, the air in front of him distorted then produced the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes upon.

Fleur wore the same outfit she had donned that morning, the same she had doffed following their date the night before. She had pulled on her blouse--slightly wrinkled--while complaining of the comments and innuendo she’d receive from the other trainees in her rookie group at the ICW. She had, however, still left him with the fading warmth of a lingering kiss that reminisced of the long night before.

He had almost forgotten to give her the portkey.

She shivered as she scanned the woods behind him, a fond smile lifting already rosy cheeks.

“It has been too long since we wandered the woods together,” she mused, letting her sky-blue eyes rest on his. “But I am not sure that is a good enough excuse for me to take a half-day, darling.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her, and she offered him one in return and stepped forward, pulling him into her heated embrace.

“But what is done is done,” she said into his neck, her face buried against a breeze. “Though you had better have brought me a cloak.”

He bundled her tighter in his arms which elicited the nuzzle he had been hoping for, then had to extricate himself from her comfortable grip.

“I didn’t, but-” he said, holding up a hand to ward off the frown that he knew would make him feel terrible, “I had a good reason.”

“You had better,” she grumbled, wrapping her arms around her middle. “Why here? Why not back at my parent’s home? Or that lovely park near your apartment?”

He suppressed the twitch towards his own cloak, instead switching the motion into a wide gesture of his arm.

“There’s something here I wanted you to see,” he said, letting his arm fall.

She peered at him, eyes narrowed, head tilted. “You are nervous,” she said. “What are you up to?”

He took a deep breath and smiled. Time to see if he could pull off his little trick.

Though it helped when the trick made you nervous too.

Which was dumb. She wouldn’t mind.

Still, no matter how sappy Ron said it was whenever he mentioned it, she could dissolve his defenses with a single shy smile, even years later.

He held his hand out to the side, and with a word, his Firebolt leapt into his palm, bursting through its cover of leaves.

She studied his broom, puzzled.

“You...know I do not like flying on a broom.”

“You wouldn’t have to,” he said carefully, putting words to a desire he’d held since the earliest days of their relationship. “You could do it...the normal way.”

An eyebrow quirked and her mischievous smile slid across her features.

“Are you asking if I will fly with you?” she asked, eyeing him from head to toe in a way she _knew_ sent his heart racing. “I see why you did not bother with the cloak.”

He nodded, trying to keep his expression impassive. He didn’t know why. She could tell he was nervous as could be.

What had she said? It felt like rapid vibrations?

She stepped out of her shoes and kicked them aside and fixed him with a teasing grin.

Her smile grew wider and she reached to the back of her head and pulled her ribbon free between two fingers. It sat at a solid, sunny yellow which let him finally take a deep breath of relief.

Yellow was good. Red would’ve been nice...but not what they were here for.

Well...maybe later.

In the warmth of his flat.

She stuck it in her trouser pocket and started on the buttons of her blouse. Each twist of her fingers sent his pulse racing faster as more and more ivory skin peeked through the gap.

“If this is what you were after,” she said, pulling her arms free and handing him the blouse. “You certainly did not need the theatrics of procuring a portkey.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” he said, still proud of the fact that he had stopped stammering when she undressed.

Most of the time.

“It’s just a fringe benefit.”

She hummed understanding in her throat as she undid the clasp at her back and handed the garment to him. Gooseflesh rippled across her skin; a wave of pebbled bumps that caused her to shiver and cover herself from the chill. 

He made a disappointed sound and she only laughed in response. “This is your fault. Had you chosen somewhere warmer…”

She trailed off, letting her eyes close. The shivers rolling across her bare upper half slowed even as the wind lifted her loose hair behind her in a stream of turbulent silver.

She took in a deep breath and opened eyes the color of the boiling ocean. Her breath steamed from parted lips that began to harden and shift, fading from their natural pink to a bright, fearsome yellow. Another wave rolled across her body and with it brought silver sprouts that swayed in the wind as they grew into thick silvery feathers. They cascaded down her neck and chest to disappear below the waistline of her trousers. Her bare feet shifted, toes molding together into pointed talons that gripped the leafy ground beneath her.

She allowed the feathers to climb her face, covering the last vestiges of her recognizable features.

At least, recognizable to others.

She was still there, in the eyes mostly, that tracked him with the intensity she saved for when she thought he wasn’t looking. She was in the angle of the beak that spoke of distinct cheekbones. But mostly she was in her attitude, the protective step closer, the hungry sweep of eyes, the gentle touch with hardened talons.

A rush of warm air blasted the leaves from the ground, sending them careening into the wind to be carried away. Her wings burst free of her back, stretching to their full incredible width. The scaly skin that made up the bulk of the wing fluttered in the wind as she retracted them to rest behind her, the edges just poking out past her shoulders.

She took a step forward and grabbed his arm. “ _Shall I carry you?”_

He laughed and shook his hand free. She let his arm fall from her powerful grip but didn’t step away. He took the opportunity to run his hand across her shoulder to her neck, warm silken feathers barely kissing his fingertips. They rippled in response, a slow luxuriant wave that preceded a quiet vocal trill from his girlfriend.

“ _I doubt you want to finish what you are starting,”_ she said, her volatile glowing eyes pinning him to the spot.

He let his hand fall in surprise. It was something she had alluded to in the intimate privacy of late nights and the soothing warmth of her skin on his. And it was something he was fairly certain she wasn’t quite ready for.

“Like I said. That’s not why I brought you out here.”

He mounted his broom, stuffing her clothes into a pocket. He’d heard enough stories of the early days of her abilities and her multitude of shredded shirts and underclothes. It was a prudent precaution, though it somehow made the trousers she still wore almost comical.

In response, she flexed her wings, testing them against the steady breeze. They shifted back and forth, the feathers on her back that had been her hair moving in time with the motion. A powerful swing buffeted his hair and clothes with warm air and she nodded.

“I’ve got something I want you to see,” he said, sliding a hand into his cloak to double-check the sticking charm. “It’s not far.”

He kicked off the ground, the wind pressing against him in a familiar rush. A spinning silver mass shot past him, rising up into the cloudless sky. Once high enough, she opened her wings to stop the spin and hung motionless in midair for a moment before her wings began to move to keep her aloft.

“ _Keep up.”_

A powerful beat of her wings propelled her forward with a burst of speed that belied her form. Her feathers whipped in the wind, sending scatterings of reflected sunlight around her.

He leaned forward on his broom and shot off after her, its significant advantage in speed allowing him to catch up in moments. He flew above her, the massive reach of her wings preventing him from getting close to either side.

She soared with occasional graceful swings of her wings, her face toward the sky. The smaller downy feathers on her head rippled in an oncoming breeze and she opened one oceanic eye to stare at him. A cloud of vapor burst from her beak and he could see the challenge in her one-eyed stare.

“ _Keep up.”_

Her wings stretched to the sky, their tips brushing at his shoulders. The one on his left folded and she rolled to the side, the other wing pinned against her front. She spun in a rapid aileron off towards the treetops, dropping altitude until she could brush a clawed hand across the leaves.

He joined her in a dive, unwilling to put his fluttering stomach to the test of matching her roll. It dizzied him at the best of times, and he didn’t want to chance it. Not today.

His boots skimmed the leaves below him, scraping off the mud that lingered from his earlier trek to their destination. He had only gotten a little lost on his way to the spot the land-owner had talked about, but the destination had been worth the trip.

He pulled ahead, veering off to the right where he spotted a break in the trees. Fleur followed, an annoyed trill chasing after him, growing louder as she drew nearer. He could feel the heat of her wing-beats on his back and he let out a laugh, then yanked on the haft of the broom, pulling himself into a near-vertical ascent.

More heated air rushed across his body as she drew up short to avoid a collision, frantic sweeps of her wings halting her forward motion.

He shot into the sky just long enough for her to follow, then pushed into a dive towards the water. Sunlight glinted off the small river like a languid path of liquid diamonds, the edges shadowed by reaching branches.

He pushed his broom harder, laughing at the curses he heard trailing behind him. He pulled out of the dive into a tight drift, using the drag of a boot in the water to help orient himself North.

Fleur pulled out of the dive sooner, opting to continue above the treetops, rather than join him by the water. Her shadow blocked the sun from view, giving him the distinct impression that he was meant to feel as though he were being hunted.

Rather than engaging in another bout of aerial competition, he kept a sedate pace, using the opportunity to try and still his thundering heart. Wind rippled the water, the currents shifting Fleur’s shadow as she adjusted for the change.

She noticed the spot first, as he had expected, and she slowed with gentle sweeps of her wings. He banked to the left to join her at the water’s edge. She landed with careful grace, a final beat of her wings rustling his hair.

“ _It is lovely,_ ” she said, turning to admire the split in the trees.

A short shale cliff rose on the eastern bank, stratified rock glimmering in the sun. Shorter stout trees dotted the clearing, their leaves a vibrant rosy red against the orange and browns of their neighbors. They were less prevalent on the western side where they stood which sat mostly empty. It ringed the river behind them, a clearing thrice as large as the one that had become so personal to them back in France.

She finished her examinations, turning to him as the trees rippled above them scattering shadows to dance across the detritus beneath their feet.

“ _But why bring me here?”_ she asked, her feathers rippling a slow, contemplative wave across her chest. “ _It reminds me of our clearing, but I do not understand why we would not simply go there.”_

“Well,” he said, sweeping his free hand across the clearing. “I thought it was nice.”

He clenched his teeth. That was stupid. If she hadn’t been suspicious before…

“ _It is…”_ she agreed, fixing her vibrant blue gaze on him.

It, as always, made him want to spill every last secret he held.

Instead, he dug into his pockets for her clothes and rested his broom against a tree. He pulled his wand from its holster at his side and cast warming charms on her blouse.

“You should switch back so you won’t be too tired,” he said as he performed the spells.

She nodded her feathered head and blew out a breath that misted the air. The feathers rippled again and dissolved into smooth skin in a wave, crossing her body from left to right. Her massive yellow beak split and shrank back into full pink lips and a rosy nose. Her wings shrank as the rest of the feathers vanished, folding themselves into the now smooth skin of her back. Her hair detached itself and lifted in a cool breeze that sent a rolling shiver through her body.

“Give me those,” she chattered, swiping at the clothes in his hands.

He handed her the clothes, somewhat reluctantly, which earned him a glare in return.

“You are lucky this is warm enough,” she grumbled, pulling them on with quick fingers. She let out a contented sigh, pressing cold hands to the magically warmed cloth. “You are getting quite good at this spell.”

“I had better be.”

She smiled at him, then stepped close and lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulder.

“Why are we here?” she asked again, admiring the splashes of color spread out before them.

“Well...I’ve been doing some thinking.”

He extricated his arm from her grip--to numerous grumbled complaints--and fished in the inner pocket of his cloak. He pulled the folded documents from inside with trembling fingers and held them out to her.

“You really _are_ nervous,” she said, laying a gentle hand on his arm. “What is this?”

“You’ll see,” he said, his voice thankfully steadier than his hand.

She leaned against him as she unfolded the papers and read. Seconds later she was standing up straight, frantically leafing through the papers. When she had finished, she turned to him, face controlled.

He could still see the battle for said control raging behind her eyes.

“You have signed this,” she said carefully, holding the papers aloft.

“There’s an empty line.”

She paused, scanning the clearing. “How much would be…?”

“Ours?” he finished for her, eliciting a slight start and a flush from his girlfriend. She nodded. “The whole thing.”

“The whole clearing, or-”

“All of it,” he said with a grin. “Wardable. Naturally isolated. Private. We wouldn’t be bothered day and night. We wouldn’t have to read about our private lives the morning after it happens. We could just be...us. Somewhere to...ah...rest at the end of each day, I suppose.”

The tearful smile that earned him melted him into a puddle.

Maybe he _was_ sappy, but it was only the barest of exaggerations.

“T-there’s no house,” she said, struggling to hold onto her control.

“I have a little cottage in mind,” he said with a smile. His heart thundered somewhere in his throat. “That’s...not all.”

Whether what he was about to do was perceptible in his sense, he didn’t know. Nor could he think much on it. While his fingers quested again in his pocket, Fleur dominated his vision, rosy nose and cheeks standing out against her skin, sunlight reflecting off her hair as it tossed in the breeze.

Her eyes were wide and searching, a sign that his prevailing nervousness was leaking out the way a reservoir leaked out of a shattered dam.

He found what he was looking for, and extracted it from his pocket.

A small band of silver glinted in the sun. It shimmered in a way he had agonized over for months, a near mirror to the light dancing across her silvery locks. There were no stones, but instead an inlay of golden leaves that wrapped across its surface.

His preparations had left him in the solitude of her frozen, unblinking gaze. Her chest had stopped rising and falling, the only motion that of tears sliding down her cheeks.

He swallowed, the speech he had prepared off with wherever he had left the reminder to kneel.

“A-and I thought we could build it...as husband and wife.”

As tongue-tied as a boy dancing with his newfound crush, as a grown man whose every fiber burned with the surety that the ring in his hand heralded a single, blazing, passionate step down the only path he had ever wanted.

The leaves around them burst into blue flames with heat that neither could feel. Sky-blue eyes swam, the reigns of her control let free.

There was a frantic nod before the warmth of his heart bundled into his arms whispering sobbing affirmations into his chest.

Through his own threatening tears, he hummed to her, a tether to reality as she expressed the happiness that resonated inside his chest, fueling his utter certainty.

The trees shielded their tears from the world, content to absorb the first of many joys. They would shelter their years of song and laughter. Of triumph and bliss.

They would stand stalwart protection when their charges took to the skies and when they wandered the earth.

And they would guard with Gaia’s own guiding hand, the patter of little bare feet and echo the shrieking laughter of a little girl with silver hair.


End file.
